


Dream Catchers

by dorkpatroller



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Sleepy Cuddles, patron fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 19:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12065100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkpatroller/pseuds/dorkpatroller
Summary: Noire has another nightmare, and she's really worried that she's becoming a burden. She just needs to be held and reminded she's safe.





	Dream Catchers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iavenjqasdf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iavenjqasdf/gifts).



The worst nightmares always seem to happen on the calmest nights. Noire went to bed feeling calm and at peace, but her dream was riddled with demons from the very start. She was being chased on wobbly legs. Her heart was pounding hard as a hammer and loud as a drum in her chest, so hard she felt like she couldn't breathe, but her legs felt like weights. It was like she was moving oh, so slow. The world slowed down around her, and she slowed down with it. She wasn't fast enough. Every time she looked over her shoulder the distance between the Risen and herself was less and less until finally they grabbed her ankles and pulled them out from under her. 

 

To kill her would have been a blessing, it would have been merciful. Instead, they gnawed on her until she was numb, made it impossible for her to run away, and then forced her to watch them kill the others. Her mother, her father, her friends… One by one they were murdered, all with a vindictive look in their eyes. How dare Noire do nothing? How dare she just watch, quivering and afraid. She did this to them.

 

She wakes up to the sound of a scream ripping through someone's throat… and realizes belatedly that it is her own. She springs up in bed, she clutches her chest, she pulls at her nightshirt like she can't even breathe. Can she? Is she? Her breath comes out in raspy pants for a moment, while she takes in her surroundings: her tent, in the dark. She's tucked into her bedroll, under blankets. She's fine. 

 

…But she's not fine. Her face scrunches up and agony slips down her face in the form of a heavy, big tears. Sobs come next, shaking her to her core. She's terrified. Her dreams haven't been so bad in a long while, not since…

 

She looks down when she feels a tight grip around her waist. Severa grumbles a sleepy protest. "Aren't you too big to cry over bad dreams?" Even when she is so sleepy, Noire can hear the judgment in her voice. So she nods her head into her palms. Yes, she is too old for this. From there, her sobs are a little more muted. 

 

Everyone is fine. Or, at least, her friends are fine. Her mother truly is gone, same as always. She's never coming back. Noire's breath hitches in her throat and she sobs again. Quick as she can manage, she covers her mouth. Severa groans, having heard her whine anyway.

 

"What's the problem?" She asks. Noire shakes her head from side to side. She scrubs at her eyes with her fists. 

 

How can she tell Severa what's wrong? She's always a burden to her. Every time Noire is weak she goes to Severa for help and guidance. Severa holds her hand when she's scared, she walks with Noire when she has to go pee in the dark… she's an angel. But she's obviously sick of it by now. Could she possibly not be? She always complains, and Noire always tries so hard to be independent but… well, she's just not. She hiccups. 

 

Very slowly she's pulled down. From her other side, Kjelle tugs Noire, in what feels like slow motion, until her head is pressed into the crook of Kjelle's neck and they're facing each other. Her arms wrap around Noire's shoulders snug and inviting, and it's oh, so soothing. "Shut up, Sev." Kjelle's voice comes out in a grumpy rumble. Noire whimpers near her ear. "Everyone has nightmares sometimes." 

 

Noire presses herself closer to Kjelle. She always smells nice at night, after she's bathed and washed her hair. In the day she smells like sweat and dirt and training… and that smells nice in some ways, too, but this is different. This is a guardian to protect her from monsters—real and imaginary. This is the way her girlfriend smells when she sleeps beside Noire every night. Her tears slow down and eventually stop, and Noire wonders what she can do to make it up to Severa and Kjelle for waking them. Especially Severa. 

 

She has little time to ponder in peace. Severa is pressed against her back after that. She wraps her arms even tighter around Noire's waist. "Hey, I was kidding, okay? Can't you take a joke?" 

 

Noire laughs a tiny, watery laugh. She knows Severa doesn't mean it when she's… well, mean. She just lets the words come out sometimes without thinking. It's alright. Noire shifts just a little in Kjelle's arms until she can crane her neck to kiss Severa's face. Wherever she can reach, really. She doesn't focus on trying to reach her lips. She ends up pecking the apple of her cheek.

 

"It's just that I'm always like this," She admits in a hush. Severa shouldn't have to apologize for being irritated. Noire wakes her up more than she'd like to admit. "You shouldn't have to baby me." 

 

"You're a baby, okay? The sooner you accept it the better." Severa nuzzles her face between Noire's shoulder blades. Her breath is hot and Noire's skin feels cold, so it sends a chill down her spine. "…But you're my baby, and so I guess I'll always take care of you. It's just what I do." 

 

Noire's eyes water a touch more. What did she ever do to deserve these two? They're both so brave and strong and sweet… She sighs and nods her head. Kjelle makes a noise that Noire thinks may be a sleepy laugh. "Back to sleep," she mutters. "Early training…" 

 

It's true. Noire shouldn't have ever woken them up, but she's glad to have them both. She settles comfortably into their arms, and Severa sidles closer than ever now. For the first time since her nightmare, she feels genuinely happy. 

 

"I love you guys," she whispers. She's not sure if either of them is still awake. She closes her eyes, and when she dozes off she finds herself dreaming of a distant future where none of them ever have to be afraid.


End file.
